The Hatter's Original Alice
by Kirthal
Summary: Alice Pleasance was not the first Alice in Jervis Tetch's life. When he first began working, a young girl who shared his favorite characters name came into his life. This girl would play a larger role than he could have expected. Will the years between having seen each other make or break whatever relationship that was blooming before his Hatter days? (Slight crossover w/ Superman)
1. Chapter 1

**I do not know Batman, Batman: The Animated Series, nor Superman. I am simply borrowing the characters and manipulating them a bit. I know this is pretty short. It is just a short taste of something that I am currently working on.**

Jervis wasn't all that interested in whomever the new inmate was. They had been bringing more and more people in and none of them where intriguing in the least.

What did catch his attention though was the reaction of the other inmates to whoever the guards were dragging along. Now his curiosity was caught and he pushed himself off of the bed and made his way to the door. He caught glimpses of blonde hair before a gasp left his mouth and his beloved book slipped from his fingers.

They were dragging along Alice Wayne. He would recognize the girl even if it had been a small number of years since he had last seen her. He frowned immediately, wondering what they could have possibly done to the poor girl. She looked weak, sick, and could barely stand up straight. That wasn't normal.

The guards were dragging her roughly along before tossing her carelessly into a cell across the hall and two down from his own. She made no move to get up off the floor, emitting a weak moan instead.

"What have you done with her?" He could feel anger welling up. This girl had always been kind, treated him with respect, and was highly intelligent. He had always enjoyed her company, and she had once saved him from that Jabberwocky. She didn't deserve this.  
A shudder ran through her body.

"You know that one Jervis?" The voice belonged to none other than Jonathan Crane, who really could be considered his only friend, especially in Arkham.

"Yes.." If he hasn't know Jonathan as well as he did, he would not have recognized the ever so slight exasperated such that the lanky man gave.

"Who is she?"

"Why that is Alice..."

"Jervis.."

"Alice Wayne." Jonathan remained quiet for several moments. The poor girl, well now a woman really, managed to reach up and snatch the blanket off of the bed, barely. She was gasping and shaking as if she was in great pain. Her head turned just enough for Jervis to notice that the veins in her neck were visible and had an odd tint to them.  
"They've done something horrible to her Jonathan."

"What on Earth could have happened to land her here? She is a Wayne after all." Jervis could imagine the slightly cocked eyebrow and analytical look on Cranes face. It was paining him to watch her suffer, he had to turn away. He remained quiet, not feeling like answering the question.

I woke up feeling awful. The cold of the concrete floor greeted me, the thin blanket I had managed to grab barely keeping out the chill. The last thing I remembered lucidly enough was them injection me with kryptonite that they had engineered to be in liquid form. I swore that I was dying when it had entered my veins. Weakly lifting my head up, I glanced around the cell that was now to be my home for the next few years. Small glints of green reached my eyes. It was enough to render me practically useless. I was capable of slowly struggling to my feet and maybe shuffle around if I conserved enough energy throughout the day.

Painfully I pushed myself to my feet, just catching myself from falling flat on my face, and shuffled over to the bed, coughing harshly as I did so. I wasn't use to this, wasn't use to feeling like I could fall to my knees and never get up again. Weak was not something that I liked.

I didn't realize that I had passed out until I woke to someone roughly shoving me off the bed. I landed, immediately issuing a grunt as I was reacquainted with the floor once more.

"Get up. No fancy butlers or wake up calls here Ms. Wayne." I growled, barely pushing myself to my hands and knees.

"That's not my name." He just laughed, making me want to tackle the man to the floor and beat his face. Unfortunately for me but fortunately for him, I was in no position to really carry out the thought. "I owe nothing to Wayne and I certainly don't owe him the privilege of sharing a surname." I received a kick to the gut that had me sputtering and gasping for air.

"Shut up. Lip won't be tolerated from you." I desperately wanted to fight back but with the kryptonite both surrounding me and in my blood, I knew that I could not do anything about the treatment. Holding my ribs, I pushed myself to my feet. "Now hold out your hands. Cuff up." I did as I was told, not in the mood to have more punishment dealt out to me. This particular guard was definitely going to be a casualty of my escape.

I walked in front of the man, his baton digging into the small of my back in a somewhat painful and all around annoying manner. I allowed myself to briefly scan each cell as we passed. The kryptonite not only affected me physically but I was nowhere near as sharp as I normally was. It felt as if my brain was in a fog, gears grinding at a creaking pace. As if I wasn't already frustrated enough with my lack of ability to do anything physically, now I would have to keep on guard more so than I was intending with this mental lag.

The first person to catch my eye was casually leaning against the wall on his bed with a thoroughly used and worn copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland siting in his hands.  
That was a face that I would never forget even they tried to forcefully remove the memory. One Jervis Tetch, also known to many in Gotham as the Mad Hatter was a familiar sight and most definitely a one for sore eyes. I knew of most of the other people in the block that I was in through their various accolades in Gotham. It was like a pack of sharks who caught the scent of blood in the water, which was not all that surprising but I was in for a world of hurt without the ability to defend myself.

Jervis caught a glimpse of her as she passed, looking no better than she had last night. The poor woman seemed stuck with Brooks who none of the inmates were particularly fond of. He was known for his rough treatment of the inmates. He felt concerned over her appearance, how worn and weak she looked. He knew others would jump at the opportunity to harm her when that spotted that. His hands unconsciously tightened on his book, the idea not sitting well with him. If they only knew the true power that she possessed. But they could also know about whatever caused her weakness now, and could control her with that.  
Shaking his head, he tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind and refocus back on the familiar and comforting words of Carroll.

"Jervis?" The sound of Cranes voice broke the oh so rare silence of the asylum. Heaving a silent sigh so as to not aggregate Jonathan, Jervis pushed himself to his feet, leaving the book behind on the bed.

"Yes Jonathan?"

"Do you notice the green tint that her cell seems to have?" He looked towards the cell in question, having to press his face into the glass a considerable amount to do so. Nothing escaped Jonathan, that was certain.

"Yes, what of it?"

"None of our cells have that. What do you know that you are not letting on? Obviously they are drugging the woman with something to keep her weak, physically and mentally. It was cleared when she passed that a sharp mind had been dulled. It would be rude of you to keep information on our new companion to yourself." Jervis ran a hand through his now shaggy blonde hair, debating on how much information to give to the man next to him. He felt protective of Alice and didn't want to inadvertently cause her any harm.

"We will discuss this over our game of chess Jonathan." He did not want others to be listening too carefully to anything that he had to say. A part of his brain knew that she would need help protecting herself and the less people here knew, the better it was for her. Jonathan smartly remained quiet, realizing that at the moment he would get nothing out of the Englishman.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I sadly still don't own Batman nor Superman. That is something that is far out of my grasp. So with that, I shall continue to borrow them and have them interact with my original character Alice. Read on and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

I looked at the needle, and for the first time in my life truly understood what it meant to fear something.

"You don't understand. You are going to kill me!"

"Now calm down Ms. Wayne. What we are giving you is perfectly safe."

"That is poison to me! You damn well know that otherwise I wouldn't be getting it." I couldn't do much to fight it as they had me strapped down to the chair.

"You will receive an injection each day as part of your mediation and rehabilitation program. It is a necessary component to protect not only those who work here but yourself as well." The needle was plunged into my neck and an anguished cry passed my lips. Pain coursed through my body as the kryptonite raced throughout my blood stream. Every part of my body ached. My muscles tensed and fought against the bonds holding them. Slowly my vision started to darken, and I knew that I would be lucky to remain conscious. This would be sheer torture every day, until I either ended up escaping or my body gave in to the poisoning.

I was placed back in my cell, feeling much to weak and sick to be able to be allowed rec time. I collapsed onto the bed, not caring about how hard the mattress was. I couldn't control the shudders and shakes that were wracking my body. The kryptonite was still strong in my system. Lifting my hand, I carefully positioned it in front of my face. My veins bulged slightly and had a slight green tint, showcasing the kryptonite. The pieces enclosed in the wall were not helping either.

My hand fell back to my side. The only thing that I could really do at the moment was allow myself to slip into the blackness of the unconscious world.

Jervis sat across from Jonathan, the chess board between them. He had been hoping to see Alice but she did not appear. It most likely meant that she had been brought back to her cell after wherever the guard had drug her off to. Jonathan moved a pawn forward, not looking up at Jervis as he began to speak.

"What do you know of Alice Wayne Jervis?" He carefully surveyed the board, debating which piece he needed to move.

"I met her when she was a young girl. I was still fairly new to Wayne Industries..."

_Jervis signed, crumpling the piece of paper that sat in front of him on the desk. The designs just did not work to the point where he knew a prototype would be useless. He was pulled from his musings when the door behind him opened and closed in quick succession. Turning around, he was surprised to see a small girl, leaning against the door. She turned around and seemed as surprised as he was upon seeing him._

"Hello." She took a few breaths, calming herself down. She looked around his office quickly before turning her attention back to him.

"Um, hello." He got up off his stool and took a few steps towards her.

"Did you get lost?" She shook her head.

"No..." He knelt down so he was more at her level.

"My name is Jervis." She couldn't have been more than seven.

"I'm Alice." He smiled at that.

"What a lovely name Alice." She offered a timid smile. "That is the name of one of my favorite book characters."

"What book?" He cautiously scooped her up in his arms, wondering whose child she was. He brought her over towards the poster that was hanging on the wall.  
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." She cocked her head to the side, like a curious puppy. It was rather adorable. She studied the poster.

"I haven't read that one yet."

"No, I wouldn't suppose you had. " She pointed towards his desk.

"What are you drawing?"

"Something for work." His brow furrowed as he watched a look of concentration pass over her face. It was almost as if she was trying to understand it. Before he could question her, she spoke up again.

"Copper will conduct better. You can sodder silver over it." He felt his eyebrows shoot upwards.

"How old are you?"

"Seven." He felt skeptical about that. She shouldn't have that kind of knowledge at that age. He went to ask her how she knew that but before the words could leave his mouth, the door opened once more. Bruce Wayne stood there, a relieved look on his face.

"Alice there you are." Jervis looked between the two. "I hope she wasn't too much trouble." Alice gripped onto his arm tightly as Mr. Wayne came closer.

"No, not at all Mr. Wayne. She is quite well behaved." He handed the girl over, though it was clear to him that she did not want to go.

"If I could just get to her to stop running off." He laughed and offered his free hand for a shake. "Thank you..." He shook his employers hand.

"Jervis Tetch, . It was no trouble at all."

"Was she correct?" Jervis looked up from the board, startled out of the memory.

"Excuse me?"

"Was her suggestion correct?"

"It was. Proved helpful in tweaking out a few problems with the design."

"How did she know?" Jervis smirked slightly.

"She was far more intelligent than her aged belayed. Her birth father had a perchance for science and that natural gift was passed onto her. Bruce adopted her when she was but a babe." He moved his knight back into a safer but more strategic position while he pondered over how to reveal the next piece of information.

"Who were her biological parents?"

"Do you remember reading about the man in Metropolis?"

"Superman, the man from another planet. He is quite the specimen."  
"He wasn't the only one in the ship when it landed here. One way or another, Alice found her way to Bruce. He knew of her heritage and powers. He was not kind in her training nor raising. She had a lot of built up resentment towards him and the lack of knowledge of her heritage. She thought that she was the only one left, did not know of her brother." He shook his head, and one glance at Jonathan told him that the man across the chess board was both intrigued and hooked on his story. "She came around the offices often, for a number of years.."

_A knock on his door had him shoving the headband into one of the drawers. The early prototype still had a lot of bugs to work out but he wasn't ready to share it yet. The person hasn't barged in yet which gave him a good idea on who was waiting on the other side of the door._

"Come in." A head of blonde hair peeked around the opening between the door and frame.

"Hello Jervis!" A smile came to his face before he could stop it.

"Hello Ms. Wayne." The smile slipped as she frowned.

"Please Jervis, just Alice." He signed and motioned her in.

"What happened now?" She shook her head.

"Nothing you need worry about. Besides, that isn't why I stopped by!" The happiness she had arrived with was back full force.

"Well then my dear," He pulled out the chair to his desk, allowing her a place to sit.  
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" She pulled out a package from behind her back.

"I heard that your birthday was coming up." He looked between her and the package for a moment. He could refuse it as that would have been rude.

"That wasn't necessary Alice." She waved it off and forced the gift into his hand.

"I saw it and knew you would like it so your birthday was the perfect occasion to get it." He carefully unwrapped the gift and slowly a giant smile came to his face. Sitting in his hands was a rather rare copy of Through the Looking Glass.

"Where did you find this?"

"That is of no importance...I take it you like it?"

"This is absolutely wonderful Alice! Thank you so much!" He pulled her into a sudden hug.

"I am so glad that you like it." He let her go and allowed her to sit back down. He was cautious about placing it in a desk drawer, not wanting anything to happen to it while he was still at the office. "Now, are you going to tell me what you were so quick to hide before I came in here?" He raised an eyebrow in question to which she responded with a smile. He rolled his eyes but gave in after she gave her ears a tap. She had heard him place it in the drawer and shut it.

"Another prototype for a mind control band. It isn't working quite the way I want it to work. The subjects will respond but not for long." She took the device and began to look it over. "And they don't respond right away."

"So she is quite intelligent…" Jervis eyed Jonathan, finding that he didn't like the look that was current on his friends face. Whatever he was thinking would not bode well for Alice, somehow he knew that.

"Whatever it is that you are thinking Jonathan, leave it alone. You will not use her for your own purposes." Jonathan cocked an eyebrow in his direction and internally Jervis groaned.

"What do you think they are doing to her to negate her abilities?" He shook his head, carefully studying the board between them. "It has something to do with that green substance that her cell is glowing with." Jervis debating telling him. He and Alice had talked about it briefly, and he wasn't sure he wanted Jonathan knowing her weakness. It seemed like a bad move, knowing that Jonathan not only could but would use it against her.

"You will find out anyway, especially once you look into Superman. It is a rock from another planet. It renders her abilities inert, hurts her. I am worried about what they are doing to her. A long period of exposure could kill her." That thought immediately had him biting his lower lip in worry. The doctors wouldn't listen to her if she told them about it. They would do whatever they needed to, to be able to keep her under wraps.

"She will be dead in another three weeks if that is the case." Jervis ran a hand through his messy hair before moving his bishop.

"That is what I fear. I owe it to her to make sure that doesn't happen."

"You don't owe her anything Jervis."

"She once saved me from Batman."

"Oh really?" Jervis sighed as Jonathan gained the upper hand in the game.


End file.
